Takedown Report

Oklahoma State dominates team race at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Hendrickson named Outstanding Wrestler

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The third-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys, led by two individual champions and eight place winners, improved on a strong day one lead to win the team title at the 2024 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Saturday afternoon.
In the team race, Oklahoma State was leading by 21.5 points entering day two. The Cowboys put up a dominant 192 points in Las Vegas, 77 points ahead of second-place finisher Nebraska. The Huskers scored 115 team points, edging out third-place Ohio State who tallied 110.5 points. Virginia Tech secured 90 team points, and 2023 team champion Iowa State rounds out the top five with 89.5 team points.
In his first season at the helm for the Cowboys, 2020 Olympic champion David Taylor has coached his team to a dominant performance at one of the biggest midseason tournaments in collegiate wrestling. Oklahoma State had all ten in its line-up reach the podium in Las Vegas, and five wrestlers reached the finals after the third session.
The two champions for Oklahoma State were Dean Hamiti Jr. at 174 pounds and Wyatt Hendrickson at 285 pounds. Hamiti edged Lorenzo Norman (Stanford) in a 4-3 match that came down to a riding time point after Norman took the lead with a first-period takedown. Hamiti scored two on a reversal in the first, then evened the score at 3 with an escape in the second period. Hendrickson capped off the night with a pin against Isaac Trumble (NC State) at 2:35 in a battle of U23 World Champions. He was also named the Outstanding Wrestler for his performance this weekend.
At 125 pounds, Matt Ramos (Purdue) displayed dominance early, securing a 6-2 lead over Eddie Ventresca (Virginia Tech) in the first period with a pair of takedown-escape sequences. Despite Ventresca earning a point from a stalling call in the third period in an effort to narrow the gap, Ramos held on for the victory.
In the 133-pound final, Zeth Romney (Cal Poly) showed precision, using an early escape and a second-period takedown to secure a 7-3 win over Evan Frost (Iowa State). Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) edged out Tagen Jamison … more at … https://www.themat.com/news/2024/december/07/oklahoma-state-dominates-team-race-at-cliff-keen-las-vegas-invitational-hendrickson-named-outstanding-wrestler

December 13, 2024 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | sports, wrestling